Queen Victoria

Splendours of the Subcontinent: Multiple online and offline learning opportunities from LGfL’s longstanding partnership with The Royal Collection Trust.

We are delighted to announce a series of new opportunities for schools in collaboration with the Education team at the Royal Collection Trust.

Firstly, we have all new images added to the LGfL Image Bank. The 14 images have been specially selected for their relevance and interest for schools and come from a new exhibition called ‘The Splendours of the Sub content’ at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Place which is open to the general public and schools’ groups until the 14th October.

All images are available to download for educational use* in Super high resolution for studying in preparation for a school visit.

LGfL Image Bank is a growing collection, with unique access to collections from The Royal Collection and The British Library, It’s purpose is to provide a free repository of high quality materials copyright cleared for use in teaching and learning*.

All of the resources in the Image Bank are archived at the highest quality available so they can be used on whiteboards, printed materials, animations and for any other educational application. All of the resources are copyright cleared so they can be downloaded, edited and re-purposed for educational use, both within the classroom and at home*.

High resolution scans allow you to print large version of the pictures in high quality. All images from the LGfL Image Bank will print out at large scale and in good quality.

This may prove to be useful in a classroom setting if you are fortunate enough to have a high resolution, large scale printer.

Because the High resolution scans have so much fine detail – you can zoom in on a part of the picture without losing image quality.

This is very useful if you want to print out just a part of the image or focus attention on one aspect of the picture. What separate stories can these smaller sections of a picture tell the viewer?

You could if you have access to Apple Keynote use the ‘magic move’ transition or if you have Office 365 use the Powerpoint transition ‘Morph’ to zoom in and out of the chosen image, and save this as video (the video does not have sound)

At first many of the images might seem like a random selection, but they all feature or are linked to a contemporary artwork The Royal Collection Trust have been working on with two artists, The Singh Twins, in response to the exhibitions. The schools’ programme (see below) heavily features this new artwork.

Within the images there is much to explore, here are just a few ideas on how on how you could use the images:

Research and learn more about how the Prince of Wales represented Queen Victoria on the 1875-6 tour of India and link this with examples of this happening in a modern context, such as Prince Harry’s upcoming tour of the Commonwealth countries.

Explore the historical context of lion hunting and forced elephant fights using the images from the The ‘Padshahnama’ (‘Book of Emperors’) or the use of ivory to create artefacts, again this could be linked to more modern contexts of animal welfare and hunting.

Use the images from the beautifully depicted book: the Hindu text the Bhagavata Puran, to explore the Hindu faith and perhaps attempt to tell your own rendition of the epic tale , perhaps making and using your own shadow puppets or creating own animations using J2e’s spotlight tool or JIT

Have group discussions focussing on the historic and geographical context of the exhibition, exploring the role of Queen Victoria and considering terms such as ‘continents’ and ’empire’.

Though-out the year schools can arrange visits or attend special workshops with the education experts at The Royal Collection Trust (In London, Windsor and Edinburgh)In addition and timed to concede with The Splendour of the Subcontinent Exhibition, the RCT is hosting unique sessions at the Queen’s Gallery, the sessions provide a number of inspiring routes into the curriculum for children to develop creative writing, drawing skills and drama opportunities.

This workshop focusses on the vivid characters on display and highlights the many possibilities for inspiring Creative Writing from works of art, in comparison to more familiar sources such as books and the internet. Focussing on the paintings featured in the exhibitions, pupils will examine sources to inform their writing and explore the themes of description, dialogue and monologue. Pupils will leave the workshop with new ideas, insightful notes and short written pieces to enable them to develop a completed story back at school.

Explore the exhibitions with a professional artist, discover how some of the amazing works of art on display were created, learn how similar styles have inspired contemporary artists such as The Singh Twins and be inspired to create your own artwork in their style.

Explore the dazzling objects on display in the Prince’s Tour of India 1875-6 exhibition and examine the exotic materials and beautiful craftsmanship on display as part of this educator led session.

The Royal Collection Trust have worked closely with the Singh Twins on an artistic installation which explores the interconnected themes of maritime trade and exploration, cultural exchange, the British Empire, colonialism, as well as its legacies, the RCT have created to an interactive digital version to help ‘de-code’ it, which links with the many school sessions mentioned above.

For further information on visiting the Queens Gallery with a school group visit our essential information pages for:

These are free of charge, run by experts, open to all schools, and the ideal complement for working alongside our image bank.

Are you using the LGfL Image Bank with your school? Let us know how by posting your work on our twitter of Facebook pages.

*Please note: Adherence to the licensing terms of use by teachers and learner is essential. This will ensure that content providers continue to partner with LGfL and offer unique resources for teachers and learners connected to the National Network.